To make, clean, the surface of an object on which contaminating gases or contaminants are adhered, there have been adopted a variety of methods depending on a variety of factors such as the kinds and particle sizes of such contaminants, the concentration of the contaminants in a gas, the mobility and flow rate of the contaminants or the gas, and the hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity of the contaminants, and the boiling points and reactivity thereof.
However, these methods each suffer from various problems and they also have limits in their applications.
The typical thereof will be listed below (methods (1) to (15)):    (1) Combustion Method: This method comprises the steps of combusting the exhaust gas containing VOC, which is discharged from a large-scale factory, and then externally discharging the combustion gas. There have conventionally been adopted, for instance, the direct combustion technique, the catalytic combustion technique, and the accumulative-combustion technique. However, a large quantity of fuels such as LPG should be used to remove contaminants such as organic solvents present in an exhaust gas having a large volume in a low concentration. This results in the external discharge of carbon dioxide in a high concentration, which may become a cause of the global warming. In addition, the mist of oily paints and varnishes and gravure inks cannot completely be burned and the exhaust gas emitted through the combustion thereof may give out an intensive bad smell and accordingly, this technique should be accompanied by a deodorizing treatment of the exhaust gas, in most of cases, which is fundamentally unnecessary.    (2) Method for the Adsorption of Contaminants Using Porous Material: This is a method in which contaminants are adsorbed on the layer of a porous adsorbent such as activated carbon or zeolite. This technique would certainly permit the removal of molecular contaminants and the adsorbents are reused over about 10 times by expelling the contaminants adsorbed on the adsorbents out of the used ones (which would undergo breakthrough) through the use of high temperature steam to thus regenerate the same. However, there has not yet been established any satisfactory technique for recovering the contaminants expelled therefrom without externally discharging the same. Moreover, the use of such adsorbent suffers from a problem in that they show loadings or clogging to such an extent that the regeneration thereof is impossible any more, in case where the contaminated gas contains, for instance, various kinds of tar-like substances and mist of paints and varnishes, having large particle sizes. The use of zeolite suffers from the same problems and the zeolite likewise suffers from the problem of causing immediate breakthrough and deactivation.    (3) Photo-catalytic Method: This is a technique in which the titanium oxide-coated surface is irradiated with light rays. There have been proposed a variety of specific techniques of this type. However, these techniques suffer from such problems that the gaseous contaminants are quite slowly be decomposed, the decontamination effect thereof is reduced when the catalyst surface becomes dirty and they can thus be used in only considerably limited applications.    (4) Ozone Oxidation Method: This is a method quite suitable for the sterilization and deodorization of the tap water and the method has an immediate cleaning effect when applying it to the cleaning of the space impregnated with filthy odors. However, the following drawbacks arise, such that ozone is strongly toxic, that the use thereof is not adapted for the treatment of the exhaust present in, for instance, a wide space in a factory, that the use of ozone is limited in the place and time and that the use thereof causes damages of utensils and implements.    (5) Existing Dust-Collecting method: There have widely been used, for instance, a bag-filtering technique in which a heavy and fine canvas is used and dust is collected while making use of, for instance, the gravity, the centrifugal force and the force of inertia; the electric dust-precipitating technique which makes use of an electrostatic attractive force; and the dust-collection method through filtration, which makes use of porous powdery materials. These methods are effective for the removal of, for instance, non-adhesive dust particles having a particle size of not less than 0.01 μm, but they are ineffective for the removal of, for instance, viruses having a particle size of less than 0.01 μm, adhesive aerosols such as the smoke of tobacco and gaseous contaminants.    (6) Method Using Perfumes and/or Aromatics: The masking technique, in which unpleasant odors and irritative odors emitted from chemicals are organoleptically relieved through the use of an aromatic, has widely been put into practice by the use of an aerosol type spraying can or a plastic pump. The ability of most of these products to remove dust and the ability thereof to deodorize have not yet been completely and scientifically demonstrated or elucidated and most of the guests of a hotel have a dislike to the smells of a perfume adsorbed on the whole wall surface of a guest room, which are diffused, little by little, therefrom. In addition, this method has been proved to be ineffective for the odors, whose complete elimination has considered to be impossible, such as the odor of a cigar, that of the incense, the offensive smell of the armpit whose principal components are lower fatty acids, the evil smell of the body, the smell of formaldehyde, the smell of insecticides and the smell of VOC included in, for instance, paints and varnishes, in addition to the foregoing smells of the perfumes.    (7) Method Which Makes Use of Plant's Extracts: There has been known a method which makes use of a commercially available liquid product comprising a plant extract named catechin or flavonoid type component-containing extract. The extracts containing catechin derived from green tea are effective for the deodorization of perishable or flesh foods. However, they are limited in their applications, they are ineffective for the deodorization of the decomposition products of food waste products having complicated compositions and the use of such an extract may rather result in the secondary environmental pollution due to the mixed odors thereof in most of cases.    (8) Method Using Wood-Derived Vinegar or Bamboo-Derived Vinegar: This is a method which makes use of vinegar obtained, as a by-product, when producing wood-derived or bamboo-derived charcoal through the carbonization of wood or bamboo, for the deodorization. These wood-derived and bamboo-derived vinegars are sometimes sold in the form of an all-round deodorant and a health beverage, which are friendly to the environment, but they contain harmful components such as methanol, formic acid and other lower fatty acids, lower aldehydes and tars having various compositions; mutagenic components; and the components suspected as carcinogens, and they do not show any deodorant effect even when using them for the deodorization of the interior, for instance, for the elimination of the smells of tobacco. On the contrary, if they are applied onto the construction materials, it would be needed, in some cases, to eliminate the irritative odors emitted from these materials.    (9) Scrubber-Cleaning Method Using Existing Aqueous Cleaning Agent: There have widely been used, in this technique, various compounds such as sulfuric acid, caustic soda, chlorates, composites of ascorbic acid and ferrous salts and sulfites. These cleaning liquids are effective for gaseous contaminants having simple compositions and rich in the chemical reactivity, but any single kind of compound never permits the elimination of complex gases which give out bad smells and comprise various kinds of components such as acidic, basic, oxidizing and/or reducing ones as well as the foregoing contaminants in the form of aerosols. Moreover, the rate of reaction observed for the reaction of an aqueous ammonia solution with a dilute sulfuric acid solution is 100%, but it has been found that the rate of cleaning achieved is frequently not more than 50%, even when the dilute sulfuric acid solution is brought into contact with ammonia gas in a conventional scrubber. In addition, such a cleaning device and the technique for the operation thereof have not yet been established.    (10) Method for Sprinkling, in Exhaust Duct, an Aqueous Solution of Low Molecular Weight Cleaning Agent: Even when sprinkling, in an exhaust duct, the same aqueous solution used in the foregoing item (9), it was frequently observed that the gas-liquid contact rate achieved by the treatment was insufficient or considerably low and that the crystals formed through the reaction were deposited on the interior of the duct to thus make the passage of the gas flow difficult. In this case, the aerosol does not have kinematic characteristics like those observed for the gas, the probability of the collision thereof with sprayed mist was considerably low and good results were obtained only in a low frequency.    (11) Washing Type Cleaning Agent for Washing the Contaminated Surface of an Object and Cleaning Method Using the Same: Since various kinds of contaminants are adhered to and stuck fast to the surface, the surface is occasionally or periodically cleansed through wiping or washing, using the following agents and/or the following cleaning methods:    A) Cleaning of Air-Conditioning System (hereunder referred to as air-conditioner): In most of cases, the air-conditioner is contaminated with lamp soot, oil films, nicotine or tar derived from tobacco, mold (fungi), bacteria, mites and the dead bodies thereof, dust, substances emitting composite bad smells such as substances attributable to the evil body smells and harmful aerosols, which are deposited on or adhered to the aluminum heat exchanger and the regions surrounding the same, these contaminants are, as a result, released into the interior of the room where the air-conditioner is installed, this accordingly reduce the rate of heat exchange of the air-conditioner and the latter wastefully consumes an excess electric power. The business of periodically washing such an air-conditioner has recently widely been popularized and one of the methods for cleaning the same, which have now been favorably noticed, comprises the steps of covering the air-conditioner with a plastic bag while protecting the electric circuits thereof including the distributing wires from coming into contact with any cleaning liquid and preventing any leakage of the cleaning liquid in the conditioner; and then injecting, under pressure, three kinds of cleaning liquids, in order, through the opening of the cover to thus cleanse the air-conditioner. In this respect, a dilute aqueous solution of caustic soda is used as the first cleaning liquid, a dilute aqueous solution of phosphoric acid is used as the second cleaning liquid, and water is used as the third cleaning liquid.
However, the method applied to the cleaning of the air-conditioner never permits the cleaning of the heat exchangers used in, for instance, Chinese restaurants and restaurants serving foreign dishes since the foregoing contaminants and firm oil films (hereunder referred to as oil stains) are formed on the heat exchangers used therein.    B) Cleaning of Filters of Large-Scale Air-Conditioner for Commercial Use: Filters prepared from fabrics or nonwoven fabrics of polyester fibers are regularly replaced with new ones and the contaminated or used ones have conventionally been discarded in most of cases.
However, the regulations concerning the waste matter have recently been strengthened and accordingly, it has been necessary to repeatedly wash and reuse these materials. The widely used method for cleaning these materials comprises the steps of washing them with an aqueous solution of a hydroxide or carbonate of sodium or potassium, which corresponds to a deleterious substance or a poison, which has a high pH value and to which a surfactant is further incorporated; and then washing with water. However, the method is still insufficient since it may incompletely remove lamp soot, hardened oils and fats, mycelia of fungi, and the smells of tobacco, and this method still suffers from various problems in that the filter thus cleansed still gives out bad smells, that it has a blackish appearance due to the recontamination with lamp soot and dust, even after water-washing, that the polyester fibers are dissolved because of the washing with a strongly alkaline cleaning liquid and that the method additionally requires the post-treatments such as the neutralization of the waste liquor prior to the discharge thereof and a treatment thereof for the prevention of any foaming in the river after the discharge thereof.    C) Cleaning of Various Kinds of Textile Goods: There have been used, for the cleaning of these goods, a variety of powdery and liquid detergents, each of which comprises, for instance, enzymes, oxidizing agents such as sodium percarbonate, builders, surfactants and other auxiliary agents. These usually used detergents have not yet solved such a problem of the complete removal of intensive bad smells emitted from common clothes commercially cleansed, household diapers and clothes and those used in the care facilities, during ironing out thereof after cleansing, rinsing with water and centrifugal dehydration and/or during the storage of the finished such goods, as well as the complete removal of, for instance, the offensive smells of the armpit adhered to, for instance, shirts, trousers and undershirts and yellowish spots or stains formed on light-colored trousers and undershirts due to the urine.    D) Elimination of Contaminants from the Atmosphere in the Interior of Rooms: There have gradually been emitted, in the interior of rooms, various kinds of contaminants, in the form of gases, detailed above, which are adsorbed on and adhered to the surface of, for instance, wallpaper, wooden wallpaper, decorated plywood, wooden partition wall materials, tatami mats, glass doors and windows, used in houses, office rooms, eating houses, stores, sleeping accommodations or the like, as well as the surface of floor boards, ceiling boards, cooking rooms, cooking tables, bath rooms or the like; further VOC and/or SPM originated from insecticides for tatami mat, those for killing white ants, sprinkled under the floor, paints and varnishes during drying may spread throughout the interior of the rooms and the residents may accordingly be attacked with sick-house syndromes. Moreover, there has not yet been developed any cleaning liquid which can completely recover the beautiful appearance of the ventilating fans and the interior materials provided thereon with mixed oils and fats-derived contaminants, like the foregoing air-conditioner, by cleansing through wiping and therefore, it would be necessary to replace the air-conditioner and the interior materials per se with new ones. However, such replacement never permitted the complete removal of the bad smells fast stained on the interior of rooms.    E) Cleaning of Product-Manufacturing Line for Liquid Products: Beverages and liquid seasonings are packaged in containers such as metallic cans, glass bottles and waterproof paper containers in an automated line of an automated filling machine. However, a variety of goods should be produced, the kinds thereof should be changed from season to season, and the production lot of each good is often small as compared with the manufacturing and packaging capacity of the device. The production of these various kinds of goods are carried out using the same production line and therefore, the latter should frequently be cleansed. In this case, if a very small amount of the good previously produced still remains in the line even after the washing thereof and it is mixed with the subsequently produced good, the taste and texture as well as the flavor of the resulting good may be impaired and the commercial value of the resulting good is in turn considerably reduced. To remove such residues present in the line in a very small amount, the line should be washed under severe conditions. In a typical example, the washing requires the use of 6 steps and the use of tap water in an amount of 6 times the volume of the good produced using the line and further the washing step requires the amount of heat to be used for heating the tap water for washing to a temperature ranging from 85 to 90° C. and it is said that it takes 3 hours for the completion of each washing step.
However, the goods such as juices of apple and peach and seasonings containing slurry-like citrus fruits have the smells peculiar thereto, whose removal is quite difficult and, in most of case, the same step is repeated not less than three times for the complete removal thereof. Therefore, it has been desired for the development of a cleaning agent and a cleaning method, which certainly permit the deodorization by a single cleaning step.    F) In factories for manufacturing electronic substrates, for repairing motorcars and machines, and those for dry-cleaning, there have still been used, for instance, a hydrocarbon-based solvent including gasoline quite susceptible of ignition, caustic soda and an aqueous detergent containing surfactants in order to remove fats and oils, and petroleum-derived hydrophilic and hydrophobic contaminants from various products, parts, clothes or the like, but there has thus been desired for the development of an aqueous detergent which has a low BOD and/or a low COD and which is highly safe.    (12) Mask for Preventing Virus-Infection: In the pandemic stage of viral infectious diseases, it has been said that the wearing of masks for the prevention of the infiltration of any virus is quite effective for the commutation passengers, passengers, and peoples who go out, but there has not yet been developed any mask which has high quality like the anti-gas masks for the military and industrial use, which is light weight like the usual cotton gauze mask and which is quite easy for wearing.(13) Prior Arts:
There has been proposed a technique for the removal of gaseous and aerosol-like contaminants, which comprises the step of sprinkling, into the atmosphere, a dilute aqueous solution containing an amphoteric and alkanol-amine and a neutralized anionic polyacrylamide (see, for instance, Patent Documents 1 to 3 specified below).
In addition, there has likewise been proposed a technique concerning a detergent, comprising, as essential components, organic and/or inorganic cleaning agents and a high molecular weight compound which is a copolymer of a derivative of acrylamide and other monomers, having either anionic, cationic or amphoteric characteristics, whose aqueous solution shows cohesive properties and which has a molecular weight of not less than 1,000,000 (see, for instance, Patent Document 4 specified below). According to this technique, it is said that the dilute aqueous solution thereof can certainly prevent any re-contamination of the object to be washed such as fibrous materials with inorganic fine particulate contaminants such as the lamp soot and dust such as soils originated from the rinsing step of the object obtained after cleaning of the same and the dilute aqueous solution likewise permits the removal of any polymerized oily contaminants attached to the fibrous materials.
Moreover, there has also been proposed a gas-cleaning technique which makes use of a detergent showing the chemical reactivity with gaseous contaminants of 100% and a scrubber provided with a built-in paper-based filler material (see, for instance, Patent Documents 5 and 6 specified below). According to this technique, it is said that the rate of cleaning would be 100%, if the operational conditions are so controlled that the gas-liquid contact rate of the scrubber becomes 100%.    Patent Document 1: The specification of Japanese Patent No. 2,132,366;    Patent Document 2: The specification of Japanese Patent No. 2,134,708;    Patent Document 3: The specification of Japanese Patent No. 2,775,162;    Patent Document 4: The specification of Japanese Un-Examined Patent Publication Hei 7-216389;    Patent Document 5: The specification of Japanese Un-Examined Patent Publication 2001-149739;    Patent Document 6: The specification of Japanese Un-Examined Patent Publication 2004-313893.